Hunger strike Live Blog

Bahraini activist Abdulhadi Alkhawaja, who is in detention in Bahrain, has entered his 100th day on hunger strike.

Alkhawaja's strike is in protest to the life sentence he has been put on.

Alkhawaja's lawyer Mohammed al-Jishi was allowed to meet with him on Thursday for the first time in more than 45 days.

"Abdel Hadi can walk. He is conscious and moves around normally," al-Jishi, told AFP news agency.

"He is pursuing his hunger strike and subsides on liquids for his survival," said Jishi.

He said he met Khawaja at Jaw prison, south of Manama where Khawaja was taken on Tuesday, weeks after being kept in a military hospital for observation.

"His health has slightly improved because he was force fed," the lawyer said of Khawaja. 

Khawaja was arrested in April 2011. According to tweets he began his hunger strike in February 8. 

The Egyptian-mediated agreement to end the weeks-long hunger strike of Palestinian prisoners was a mistake, Likud MK Danny Danon told Israel Radio on Tuesday morning.

The deal, announced on Monday, grants better conditions, including family visits, to prisoners held under administrative detention. Part of the deal includes modification of Israel’s administrative detention policy as well. In return, the prisoners agreed to sign a pledge renouncing terrorism, a controversial stipulation that critics say is nonbinding.

"This deal was a serious mistake; instead of making things tougher for the terrorists they are giving them a prize,” said Danon. “The situation for security prisoners must be clear: no family visits, no special benefits. And key prisoners must be in solitary confinement."


[Source: The Times of Israel]

The wife of a jailed Bahraini activist on hunger strike for more than three months says his condition appears better, but he is still only taking water and juice in his protest against government crackdowns in the Gulf kingdom.

Khadija al-Musawi says she visited her husband, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, for about two hours Sunday.

Al-Khawaja and seven other activists were sentenced to life in prison by a military-led court last year for participating in the uprising by Bahrain's majority Shias, who seek to end the political dominance of the ruling Sunni dynasty.

The convictions for the group, and about a dozen others, are now being reviewed by a civilian court.

At least 50 people have died in Bahrain's unrest since February 2011.

[Source: AP]

The wife of a jailed Bahraini activist said on Wednesday she was worried for the health of her husband after more than two months of hunger strike. 

Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, one of 14 men in prison for leading an uprising last year, is serving a life sentence for expressing support last year for Bahrain becoming a republic. 

He has been fasting for 77 days. 

Bahrainis won no major concessions on reducing the powers of the Sunni ruling Al Khalifa family in the protests, but one year later the uprising has not gone away. 

In response to queries on Khawaja's health, the interior ministry said to refer to its Twitter feed. There was no new information on Wednesday. 

Khawaja's wife, Khadija al-Mousawi, said her husband had failed to call on Tuesday from the military hospital where he is being monitored during his hunger strike and she was unable to obtain any information on his health on Wednesday. 

"Something is very wrong," Mousawi said. "He was talking about accepting death as the path of freedom, he sounded very weak and tired," she added, referring to her last conversation with Khawaja on Monday. 

UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday expressed concern about the activist, respected by international rights groups as a rights defender but seen by some Bahrainis as a Shi'ite Islamist activist, and called on Bahrain to respect human rights. 

"The Secretary-General once again urges the Bahraini authorities to resolve Mr. Al-Khawaja's case based on due process and humanitarian considerations without any further delay," Ban Ki-moon's office said. [Reuters]